Holliday ready for return while Carp's comeback gets put on hold

STAN McNEAL

FS Midwest

ST. LOUIS -- After a workout at Busch Stadium Tuesday afternoon,
Matt Holliday said his right hamstring has completely healed and he's ready to return to his post in left field.

"I feel great, 100 percent," Holliday said. "I'm ready to go now."

Too bad for him that he can't play until Saturday.

That would be the first day he is eligible to come back since he pulled up with a right hamstring strain in Chicago July 11. At the time, the
Cardinals hoped Holliday could return right after the All-Star break but after he missed the first game back, the Cardinals put him on the disabled list.

Holliday, somewhat reluctantly, didn't disagree with the decision.

"It's hard when you look at that. That's always a decision you can't really see in the future," he said.

"When you have a hamstring that's not completely healed and try to push it, it can set you back pretty far," manager Mike Matheny said.

While Holliday is set to go but ineligible to come off the DL,
Chris Carpenter is eligible to come off but isn't ready. Not even close.

Carpenter's comeback attempt has put been on hold again after he felt that familiar numbing sensation in his right hand during a rehab start at Memphis Saturday night.

"I felt it during the game but I wasn't going to come out of the game and tell everybody that I wasn't feeling that great before I could speak to any of the (Cardinals trainers)," said Carpenter, who gave up nine hits and gave up four runs while getting only 10 outs.

Though Carpenter said he doesn't know when he will throw again, he's not planning to give up.

"There's something there," said Carpenter, referring positively to his stuff. "I had it in Springfield (last Monday) for a little bit. It's just a question of getting it to stay."

By taking a break now, Carpenter, 38, hopes to avoid a setback that could have pushed his comeback back to square one. He said his arm strength is sound and a sore lower back that earlier stalled the comeback is feeling better. He still can't get an answer on why the numbing seems to return as he ratchets up the intensity of his throwing.

"We're going to back off and try to figure out what's going on," Carpenter said. "Make sure we're doing OK and I'm still doing the right things and moving in the right direction. The first response is we need to back off. We're going to back off and see what happens."

You can follow Stan McNeal on Twitter at @stanmcneal or email him at stanmcneal@gmail.com.